Monday, 10 February 2014

The Brand

Today I bring you a little bit of free associated thinking as I try my hardest to get my head around an issue that's burning away at me and has for a few months.

I talk to you of course about BRANDING!

Now I'm not talking about existing branding per se. This isn't about me complaining about the take over of small companies by TESCO or the misrepresentation of X in Y.

No, this is about where is see my Game Developing going in the future.

I use the word in italics for a reason.

You see, despite writing two posts about how I see my own processes of game development in the upcoming game CRYPTS, I still don't see myself as a professional designer; because I am not!

Until I've made some money out of what I've done/am doing I will not be a professional only an amateur at best. Hell, until I can do it for a profession, I am not a professional, and frankly I don't want to do it as a profession.

But I am residing myself more and more to the fact that I need to come up with a name, a brand if you will for what I am doing.

Not the game, no that is my product. Instead I need a name for me, be it me myself, or my team or whatever.

Now this is not easy for me to say, there's something about me, maybe it's my misplaced modesty but I really struggle to get this out. I hear it in my head and go "Dude! You are so not deserving of a company name!"

But as a good friend of me said recently when I asked him this very question:

...as much as the game needs an identity, so does the producer.

So here I am, your Friendly Neighbourhood Doctor Loxley looking to establish himself as an entity beyond himself.

After all which sounds better:

CRYPTS: A Weird West Dungeon Crawler - By Richi 'Dr Loxley' POrCRYPTS: A Weird West Dungeon Crawler - By X Games Studios (just a random name).

One sounds a lot more professional and marketable than the other.

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So what am I thinking for a name?

Well my first thought is to look at my online presence that people are already (in one way or another) aware.

We have my handle: Doctor LoxleyWe have my CRYPTS Podcast: New Fairbank RadioWe have my talk radio Podcast: HobbySofaWe have my Blog: New Fairbank News.

I see a bit of a theme here. Well, slightly anyway.

Two of my productions are New Fairbank branded; New Fairbank News and New Fairbank Radio.

My handle; Doctor Loxley, he is a character who has been recreated in the CRYPTS fluff, living in the town settled above The Dark Below, a town called: New Fairbank.

The more I think about it, the more I see that New Fairbank is the marketable product.

It's the location for CRYPTS, if I wanted to turn the game into a skirmish or army game (CRYPTS WARS?) then this would probably be set there too. It is the inhabitant of this town who make for (in my biased opinion) compelling short stories, and maybe even at some point a novella or similar.

Is this what I should be focusing on? Is this backwater town a strong enough brand for a company name?

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Honestly, at this stage I do not know. Would the world be at all interested in the work of: New Fairbank Creations/New Fairbank Productions/New Fairbank Games?

Anyway, that's all from me tonight. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.